Process For Producing Product Containing Proanthocyanidin in High Proportion

Abstract

A proanthocyanidin-containing product containing a large amount of highly bioactive OPCs can be obtained easily by treating an extract or juice of a plant with at least two types of adsorbents that differ from one another in at least one of material, pore radius, specific surface area, and an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance based on the molecular weight of the substance.

1 . A method for producing a proanthocyanidin-containing product, comprising the step of treating an extract or juice of a plant with at least two types of adsorbents,
 wherein the adsorbents differ from one another in at least one of material, pore radius, specific surface area, and an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance based on the molecular weight of the substance.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents is a synthetic adsorbent. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , which is performed using two types of adsorbents, wherein a first adsorbent is a synthetic adsorbent, and a second adsorbent is selected from the group consisting of a synthetic adsorbent, a cation exchange resin, an anion exchange resin, a crosslinked dextran derivative, a polyvinyl resin, an agarose derivative, and a cellulose derivative. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents can remove a proanthocyanidin having a degree of polymerization of 5 or more or impurities from the extract or juice of a plant. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents is porous and has a pore radius of not more than 90 Å or not less than 100 Å. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents has an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance having the molecular weight in the range of 100 to 20000. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , which is performed using two types of adsorbents, wherein a first adsorbent is a synthetic adsorbent, and a second adsorbent is selected from the group consisting of a synthetic adsorbent, a cation exchange resin, an anion exchange resin, a crosslinked dextran derivative, a polyvinyl resin, an agarose derivative, and a cellulose derivative. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents can remove a proanthocyanidin having a degree of polymerization of 5 or more or impurities from the extract or juice of a plant. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents is porous and has a pore radius of not more than 90 Å or not less than 100 Å. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents has an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance having the molecular weight in the range of 100 to 20000. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents is porous and has a pore radius of not more than 90 Å or not less than 100 Å. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents has an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance having the molecular weight in the range of 100 to 20000. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the adsorbents has an ability of adsorbing and releasing a substance having the molecular weight in the range of 100 to 20000.